HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oklahoma Baptist, entering the Great American Conference Tournament as the No. 1-seed for the first time in program history, is set to take on No. 8-seeded Arkansas Tech at 5 PM on Thursday, Nov. 21 inside Visit Hot Springs/Bank OZK Arena.
Oklahoma Baptist (25-5, 14-2 GAC) dropped Arkansas Tech (16-13, 8-8 GAC) by a score of 3-1 inside Mabee Arena at the Noble Complex in the teams' only meeting this season.
Malia Leatherland and
Hayley Daniel combined for 39 kills in the win.
The Bison rank third in the GAC with an average of 13.39 kills/set, paced by Leatherland (3.89) and Daniel (3.01). As a team, OBU is hitting .223, the best mark in the league, helped by
Rylen Moore and
Kaylee Buell who have combined for 11.40 assists/set.
Defensively, the Bison have held opponents to a GAC-low .136 hitting percentage.
Diana Carranza has led the defensive effort in the back, recording 4.99 digs/set. At the net,
Audrey Poupard is averaging 1.04 blocks/set.
Arkansas Tech boasts the GAC's sixth-best offense, averaging 12.22 kills/set while swinging .189. Allie Anderson is ATU's top offensive threat, carrying a 3.14 kills/set average; she did most of the damage for the Golden Suns in their previous meeting with OBU this season, laying down 12 kills. Madison Grantham has a team-high 4.23 digs/set.
The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal will go on to face the winner of the match between No. 4 Henderson State and No. 5 Southern Nazarene on Friday, Nov. 22 at 6 PM.
